I THINK I'VE BEEN KEEPING THIS INSIDE FOR FAR TOO LONG

It is on the verge of a boil over if I don't rant this out on the Internet right now because frankly, it is making me (and likewise aspiring designers) the frustration in our damn guts.

I think I speak for most aspiring designers or beginner ones, that starting out is definitely hard. Tough. Abusing. And that's only, merely, because of the tight competition we have in this industry — there are grueling competition everywhere because "everywhere" seems to want to get to up there, the place of public recognition. Heck, not just us designers; auditors, writers, actors, you. We'd all like to get to that point where we get accredited for our hard work and being recognized for it. Who wouldn't, right? So, why are designers not being treated the same as everyone else?

A little back story: The moment I joined college, I knew I had to get to a creative outlet. Expand my creative knowledge and gain a little experience or two in design. I was passionate about it and strived towards it everyday. There comes the birth of the Evo club where my friends and I were put together to create this supposedly amazing extra-curricular group that organizes and plans events in our College. I immediately joined the Design team (though I was kind of the only person in it and had to do all of the work). Plus, we were promised certificates! Who wouldn't want to be accredited!? Flash forward two years, the certificates were never given and every time I demanded for it, its status was almost always "They're (College's management) are handling it". Either that or "It's coming soon". Soon? How soon is soon exactly? It's been two years and I still have no accreditation of my work — my hard, design work! All I get was praises and thank-yous, which don't get me wrong is awesome, but I'm doing this for my future. I want this for my future. It's feels great and all but sorry, a verbal accreditation is not a substitute product of a black and white document.

That's strike one.

Along the way, I got an offer to design a logo for a budding company of my friend's. And since I was just starting out, I was charging a mere $50 just for a logo design. I was ecstatic, finally! One of my first deals! I squeezed my brains, stayed up at night, trying to design and come out with a great logo art for the company. Once I was done, I presented them 3 logo options to choose from — and they were more than satisfied with two of them and had difficulty choosing between them both. The tables turned when my friend thought I was just merely joking about the payment and never thought I would charge because I was their "friend". They then backed out of the deal leaving me with 10 of my hours wasted and 3 logos I could do nothing with.

Strike two.

I then got a job as an Art instructor, part-time. My boss casually ask me to design a banner for their art centre, clearly telling me that he'll pay me the appropriate amount. I don't know why I trusted his words. WORDS. I did the best I could, it turned out great, everyone was happy. But there weren't any bonuses or increment in my salary. Just because I work there, you'd exploit my time and talent too? I'm a freaking part-time worker! Then again, I was too chicken to ask for my incentive.

Strike three. I think you can clearly see that this shit is getting ridiculous.

This goes back to the question of "Why are designers not being treated the same as everyone else?". Everything you see, is design. From the logo, the packaging, the material — everything. It all starts with a design. Just like investing in your company insurance, your investment in your company logo is exactly just that. Important. A logo is a symbol that defines your company. If you want me to design a logo cheaper than the flat rate I charge of $50 (which is cheaper than the cheapest rate out there), you are typically asking me to make one up that will look cheaper than $50. I am already giving out my all and not holding back with all the ideas that I can come up with and only charging you $50 for it. What "less" could you ask for?

If you have the capital to start a business, you should have the money for your company's branding. Otherwise, how are you ever going to advertise your company? Business is business. Just like how you wouldn't ask your friend who's in the event planning business to organize your wedding for absolutely free, you should not ask me to do a favor for you every time you have a design request just because I'm your friend / family / distant relative / childhood sweetheart — doesn't mean I'm oblige or expected to charge you way less than what I already am. You're worse than a slot machine!

Though I'm okay with online spec work, it troubles me sometimes to think of it in a different way: Take a contractor for example. Would you ever, ever, hire 3 contractors, instruct them to build a house of your hearts desire, and then pay whichever one fits best to your liking and say "sorry" to the other two? What are the other two contractors are going to do with a house that they built just for you? They spent all their time and money, sweat and blood, building that damn house for you and you didn't even want it.

And then, I'm always faced with stupid phrases that was made to squeeze out every bit of my logical sense of thinking:

"It's okay to do it for free! You get to fatten your portfolio!"

"I don't have any money for that. Can't you help a friend out?"

"Quality > quantity (of money) right?"

"But it's for a good cause."

"Well,... look at it this way, you get experience."

"I mean, you're not even a professional."

"$50? But a logo is so... tiny."

I don't get it. Why do you make so low of me? I've said this once and I'll say it again, I'm not a freaking non-profit organization or someone you could feed on for whenever you're having problems in the creative department. If you acknowledge that I'm your friend, good. But stop there. Know that I'm your friend and I'm trying to survive in the world too. Just as you are. If I keep doing shit for free, what will that make me? More parasites are going to feed off of me, taking me for granted. If you're my friend, you'd understand. If you're my friend, you'd respect my passion and hard work.


Thanks for reading my rant. I hope you readers get some idea on how incredibly "corrupted" the design world is and start to learn to stop mistreating your aspiring designer friends. Give them the respect they yearn for and so gratefully deserve.

Labels: Rants